Live TV is hard

I didn't think I'd be mentioning a Guardian article that seemed to be about a sports commentator who committed a series of terrible gaffes on live TV, but this made me laugh out loud:

Andrew Neil, who presents the live shows The Daily Politics and This Week for the BBC, says that, with experience, live is pretty easy – as long as all goes smoothly. "You earn your money when it doesn't. I once had to open an edition of Despatch Box with the words, 'Welcome to the programme. There's no autocue, the studio lights are off, and none of the guests has arrived yet. Other than that, everything's going swimmingly.'"

I have tremendous respect for those who do live TV. From doing live radio I know how hard it is to cope with snafus when the audience can only hear you. I can't imagine having to do it without being able to relieve tension by sweating and gesticulating wildly.

The experts' advice on coping with disasters like Mr. Neil's? "Admit it." I agree. After all, you have nothing else with which to fill the time.

(Thanks to LongReads for the link.)